Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Laura Gail Lunsford has been named director of the H. David and Diane Swain Center for Business and Economic Services at UNCW, the university announced today. Her appointment is effective Aug. 15, 2016.

The Swain Center provides executive education opportunities for the region's workforce, helps individuals and businesses develop and leverage their talents, assists with economic forecast data and partners with students and faculty across campus.

“We have a visionary and resourceful leader in Laura,” said Robert Burrus, dean of the Cameron School of Business. “I’m confident her experience and expertise with building successful university-community programs will prove to be a great asset to the Swain Center and the university as a whole.”

A native of North Carolina, Lunsford holds a bachelor’s and a doctorate in psychology from N.C. State University and a master’s from UNC Greensboro. She served as the first alumni relations director for Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and established the Park Scholarships program at N.C. State University. She has spent the last eight years at the University of Arizona in Tucson where she was an associate professor of psychology, focusing on the psychology of leadership and mentoring.

“I’m delighted to call Wilmington home. I feel fortunate to be in a position to build on the incredible resources at UNCW and the Cameron School of Business to ensure the Swain Center is known as one of the region’s leading business resources,” said Lunsford.

An expert in mentoring, coaching and leadership development, Lunsford is a frequent consultant and speaker on the national circuit. She has authored more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and chapters. Her book, Handbook of Managing Mentoring Programs, was published this past May and she has two more books on mentoring and leadership development in development.

The University of North Carolina Wilmington, the state's coastal university, is dedicated to learning through the integration of teaching and mentoring with research and service. Guided by our strategic plan, the university is committed to nurturing a campus culture that reflects its values of diversity and globalization, ethics and integrity, and excellence and innovation. A public institution with more than 15,000 students, the university is focused on supporting and enhancing the student-centered learning experience that has been a hallmark since its founding in 1947. UNCW offers an array of programs at the baccalaureate and master’s levels, and doctoral programs in marine biology, educational leadership, psychology and nursing practice.